Author: Pastor Ray Patrick

God knew you before you were even born – whether or not you were born in wedlock. What an amazing thought! He saw your unformed substance and said, “I have a purpose for this life. I have good plans for them!” Then He breathed His life into you and sent you through your Mother and […]

Yesterday I spent some time talking to my big sister. It was a joy to see her, We’ve only met about 6 times, and she sounded so well, happy and bubbly. To think just a few years ago she was fighting cancer.  When asked how she was doing she said great! She always focuses on the […]

“God! I have fasted and prayed, but still no answer. Why is it taking so long?”. This was a conversation with God recently. Are you praying for something that’s taking longer than you thought or expected? Don’t give up no matter how long you may have been standing on God’s promises! Your season is coming. Your harvest […]

I’m very critical at times. Just recently I had to learn this valuable lesson, criticism given in the wrong way can make us feel anxious and, in some cases, worthless. But when given fairly and constructively, with real care and encouragement, it shows us where we’re going wrong and fires us up to want to […]

Have you ever asked these questions: “I’ve been a Christian nearly my whole life, but I’m constantly disappointed in myself.”, “Why is it that I always seem to keep doing the things I wish I didn’t do and never seem to do the things I know I should do?”, “Isn’t God getting tired of me…”?  That’s […]

In Acts chapter 16, we learn about a slave girl who was bound to men who used her to make a lot of money. They found she had an evil spirit by which she predicted the future, so they used her for “fortune-telling.” Whatever that spirit was, it knew that Paul and his friends were […]

“How foolish you are, and how slow to believe … !” Wow! What strong hash words from Jesus. Words like these can make people defensive, mad, or upset. He spoke these words to wake up his disciples and give them a new understanding of life. The disciples needed to move from a place of blindness […]

The word slave sends shivers down my spine. Because I can’t get those visions of the worse atrocity known to man out of my head. But the phrases in Romans 1, which says “a servant of Christ.” is easier to handle. In The Message Bible and most, contemporary versions of the Bible says, “I, Paul, […]

Whether it be a birthday or Christmas we all like gifts. Have you ever heard these words from a child or spouse, “I want one of these, and one of these, and …”? They go on and on, turning the pages of a catalogue. We all have our wants and wish lists. The problem is […]

It’s normal for most Christians to want to share their faith. And I’ve learned that there are two ways to do that: prescriptively and descriptively. Prescriptive sharing of faith involves offering advice about what people should do to deal with difficulties they may be having. This is similar to what a doctor does when writing a […]

Just like the parable of the mustard seed, the parable of the yeast also points to something small that produces amazing results. But in Israel, yeast often represented sin, contamination, and evil. Did Jesus intend to speak of yeast that way in this parable? Apparently, he did. The Bible says, only bread without yeast could […]

The books of the gospels focus on Jesus’ public ministry. For three years, he taught about the kingdom of God, healed the sick, fed the hungry, and even raised the dead. But before any of that, for thirty years, Jesus lived in the family home. And for most of those years, he worked with his […]

Last week we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus at Eastertime (what the world calls it), we heard about the Easter bunny, eggs, and chocolate. Those old secular traditions have nothing to do with Jesus’ gift of a new life for all who believe in him. But they can be distracting if we forget to focus […]

More frequently than ever, I am hearing the cry “Is there any hope?” Many of us have had that thought at one time or another, referencing an image of someone drowning – crying out for help. In Psalm 130, the sense of hopelessness is made worse because the psalmist knows the reason for the brokenness […]

I knew someone who wanted glasses so bad that they would fake being partially blind. In the Old Testament, we see that the prophet Isaiah speaks of God’s coming judgment. God is tired of his people’s disobedience and sends Isaiah with the harsh message: “You have a choice: Go on deliberately not seeing and hearing […]

As I travel the world and look at the youth I minister to daily, I can’t but help but think on how God has blessed us with creativity. Creativity is part of the image of God given to human beings, and sadly, we have put our creativity to use to destroy as much of the […]